Brent Gibson Memorial Icebreaker - TriathlonSprint

Not a big fan of the warm pool, but it was okay. It gets boring going up and down the pool.

More bilateral breathing and really concentrate on technique.

Really good transition, I had my bike shoes clipped in already at set up, but I changed my mind at the last second I decided not to try putting the shoes on while riding and I put them on at transition. I set them up just right and it didn't take long. It was a good transition, I got out before a guy that finish the swim a minute before me. I just ripped through there. I put Vaseline around the shoes for easy slip on. The only quirk is the guy beside me racked his bike too close to mine and his brake got caught on my handle. I try to rack my bike the opposite way to avoid these problems, but oh well, i dealt with it. I also had my polar footpod ready to go and I slipped it in my shorts back gel pocket. It was fast. The transition exit was clogged with many people so it would be good to have a wider exit there. My HR was good.

I think I would like to try to have my bike shoes clipped in already and putting them on while the riding.

I was out of there, my heart rate came down quite a bit during transition, so I started passing many many people. The guy I knew and people I recognized that started in my heat were nowhere in sight, so I either left them behind or they were way ahead. The wind was all over the place and it was mostly a fight against it, but in some areas there was a nice push. I kept passing people and I had a good cadence going, but because of the many turns of the course, passing was tricky and I was forced to hold back and not attack too much. I have to admit that I gave too much respect to some people out there. These guys have been triathletes for years and I was holding back not disrespecting, but I couldn't hold on, I felt good and I attacked and left them. My cockiness would soon catch up to me in a few different ways, more on that later. As I was passed by only a handful of people when I finished my 4th lap, I was surprised that it was over, I had also sort of lost count. Yes, I lost count to 4 (feel free to point an laugh). Anyway, for some reason I thought one of the volunteers was keeping track of the laps and when I wasn't signalled to come in, there I went into my fifth. The entire lap, I knew I was on my 5th lap, but I suppressed and pushed hard almost wiping out on dusty hairpin at the turn-around point. I came into T2 almost forgetting and not realizing that was my 5th lap and I felt amazing, I had pushed big gears at high cadence and I felt terrific. I got my bike shoes off while still on the bike and I even remember to turn on my footpod. It was a good 20K, I mean 25K.

Count to 4. Reset my cycle computer before the race and check the distance. Otherwise I would ride the way I did.

It was fast. Bike went on the rack, helmet off, shoes on, footpod on, thank God for Yankz, and I was off. I almost stop to lookaround to see if I had forgot anything, but I just thought "the hell with it, it's only 5K!"

Nothing, perfect. My legs felt weird though, so I will do more brick training. I never understood what people meant when they talked about finding their legs after the bike. I just hammered through it though and kept going.

I began my run, looking back to see if the people in my heat were close by. If they were going to make up ground it would surely be on the run, I started to pick up speed and I kept think "5k" that is what I do on my lunch. I still felt pretty good and the weird legs were going away and I began giving'er. As I was beginning the ascend towards Douglas Park Hill, I see the people in my heat heading back the other way. "dangit!" the crystal clear realization that I did 5 laps. my pace dropped and I kept running but not with the same gusto. I kept thinking, surely the race director will divide my time in five and give me a just Bike time. But then I thought about how silly it would be to appeal anything. I was the idiot who didn't know how to count. After all this is my first try and a learning experience. I can walk away knowing more about this whole process and knowing there is so much more in me. I began picking up the pace, but I still coulf figure out why I was averaging aroung 9:30 minutes per Km, my target was at least 5:00/Km. I quickly realized that I had left my units in my watch in the Imperial measurements. I was thirsty, I should have drank more in the Bike, but it wasn't bad. So I went up the hill, had fun came back down, focus on my form, had a laugh smiled and finished the race. It was a good first race despite everything. I think I am stronger in the run than I think and I need to trust myself.

Run a little harder, not dwell on anything past during the run. And trust myself on the run. I will work on hills from now on too.

Just chilled. Ate some pitta and socialized. I didn't feel tired I was surprised it ended so quickly and I was ready to do another one the next weekend. I like this stuff.


The extra Bike lap. Not trusting my run and giving too much respect on the bike. My mental effort: I have to be more focused next time. Some people count everything; strokes, steps, LAPS... I tend to tune out and just go.


It was good. I liked it for my firs time out. At some point my HR reached 195 BPM, which I never felt Like I was reaching my HRmax, ,but Apparently I did, because I was supposed to be at 189 NPM. So I will adjust my training accordingly and try to get more out of it.

Lessons Learned:

1) Don't Forget your Bike Shoes
2) Rest your Cycle computers Distance Setting/Odometer
2) Drink More Water on the Bike
3) Push harder on the bike and don't be intimidated by the "triathletes"
4) COUNT YOUR LAPS
5) Push harder on the run no matter what
6) Findout if Transition Time gets added, because if I try to hammer through my transition time to get out there fast while others take their time to recover, then why am I killing myself?

Next Year I'll aim for 1:23:17

It was fun!